Session 2012-142 with Home School

Application

The School

The Class

Subjects Taught

English, Science, Math

Grades Taught

10th Grade, 11th Grade, 12th Grade

Number of Students

2

The Project

Project Title

Debugging Critters

Insects To Study

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Project Description

Curious to see how bugs that we observe daily, look like under a high powered electron microscope. Have mailed 6 bugs including a roach, 2 moths, one baby spider, and an unknown bug. Any one of the bugs which looks interesting to explore would be wonderful to view from afar.
I volunteer as a substitute teacher at a local school.

Bugscope TeamI'm setting up for the session that is scheduled for 8 our time; it's 7:15 a.m. here

Bugscope TeamI just put the sample in the vacuum chamber.

Bugscope Teamwe'll be waiting for the vacuum to reach the right level, and then we'll turn on the electron beam

Bugscope Teamafter that, make some adjustments and start finding and storing presets

Bugscope Teamso presently what you see is the inside of the vacuum chamber, and right in front is the stub with the insects/arthropods on it

Guestawesome!

7:21am

7:29am

7:35am

Bugscope Teamnow we're driving around, making presets

GuestNew here! This is awesome...I wish my kids were awake!

Bugscope Teamsuper cool!

GuestIs this the underside we are looking at? What type of borer?

Bugscope Teamwe moved on from the borer, which seemed to be a cerambycid beetle, like the emerald ash borer; this is now a sad-looking roachlike beetle

Bugscope Teamoh yeah we are almost always looking at the ventral side, the underside, where the legs are and where we're most likely to see the 'face'

7:42am

Bugscope Teamlooking for pollen and seeing mostly mold spores

GuestIs that a mold spore?

Bugscope Teamthis one is a pollen grain

Bugscope Teamsometimes it is hard to tell

7:47am

7:53am

8:00am

Bugscope Teamwelcome, everyone, to Bugscope!

Bugscope Teamthe person we're scheduled to work with is not on yet

Bugscope Teamcan we give someone control of the 'scope until she arrives?

Bugscope Teamplease, also, let us know when you have questions

8:06am

Bugscope TeamLegoguy I gave you the ability to control the microscope

Guestwhat is that thing that looks like a braid? Is it a tentacle?

Bugscope Teamthe small ones are antennae, and the larger ones, in front, are the tarsi -- the last five segments of the limb

Bugscope Teamthese are the tarsi, or tarsomeres

Bugscope TeamLegoguy are you still here?

GuestThis is a really neat 'service'! I have a fairly large dragonfly specimen that my husband found. I will have to have the kids round up some more insects and send them to you!

Bugscope TeamHSMom I just gave you control.

Bugscope Teamthe best specimens for Bugscope are often quite small. like leafhoppers, tiny weevils and beetles, mosquitoes...

Bugscope Teamyou can click on any of the presets, on the lefthand screen, to get the 'scope to drive to that position on the stage

GuestOh, ok! I will send them in search of little insects...those are more fun to find anyhow...

GuestHow can we look at the photos on the left?

Bugscope Teamclick on the blue arrow

8:11am

Bugscope Teamtotally cool

GuestI have to hop off and take a phone call....please give control to someone else..

Bugscope TeamThank You for joining us!

Bugscope Teampalps are accessory mouthparts that help the insect manipulate and taste its food

Bugscope Teamthis is a cute little moth

Bugscope Teammoths are always covered in scales

Bugscope Teamscales come off easily, and thus when an insect with scales flies into a spiderweb, there's a chance it can leave its scales and slip away

Bugscope Teamscales are modified setae, which is what the tiny 'hairs' are called

Bugscope Teamscale on the right, microsetae in the center, fluted setae above, to the left

8:16am

Bugscope Teammicrosetae, or microtrichae, do not connect to the nerves inside the exoskeleton

Bugscope Teamscales that do not have latticework and pores in them are said to be primitive

Bugscope Teamthis is kind of horrific

Bugscope Teamlol

Bugscope Teamit's a housefly head, but the mouthparts are gone

GuestDo you have a mosquito? Interested in seeing the needle that bites you.

Bugscope Teamno mosquitoes in the 'scope today. the fascicle is the component that has four sharp cutting stylets in it, part of a bundle; we do not see them often

GuestPoor fly!

Bugscope Teamhaha Yeah

Bugscope Teamthis is on the ventral side of the true bug, which now we can see also seems to be a stinkbug

Bugscope Teamthese are absorbent structures that help keep the stinkbug from smelling its own bad smell

Guestlol

8:21am

Bugscope Teamwhen we use the microscope for research, we have the sample much closer to the polepiece, where the electrons come from, and we get much better resolution. the tradeoff is that if we stay at a long working distance, like today, we can go to low mag and you can see more of a particular specimen

Guestthank you, we have to step out for a minute

Bugscope TeamThank you!

Bugscope TeamDodd Family we just gave you control, if you are still there.

Guestyes

GuestI thought stink bugs only stink when they are defending themselves

Bugscope TeamI think you are right - when they feel endangered.

Bugscope Teampollens!

Bugscope Teamhaha!

Bugscope Teamgrasshopper!

Bugscope Teamthe George Washington of grasshoppers

Guestdoes a grasshopper have teeth or just strong jaws?

Bugscope Teamthey have jaws that open out like a gate

8:27am

Guestdo they have compound eyes also?

Bugscope Teamyes and they are huge, especially compared to an ant!

Bugscope Teaminsect mandibles can wear out, and some, or many, insects that use their jaws for chewing often have zinc or other minerals in them to strengthen them

GuestWhat do you guys do to prepare the bugs before putting them under the microscope?

Bugscope Teamin most cases they are just dry. when we collect them we freeze them and then let them dry. to attach them to the stub we use doublestick carbon tape, and we usually also lay them in a droplet of silver paint. then we use a sputter coater to put about 20 nm of gold-palladium on the whole stub

GuestThanks!

Bugscope Teamwhen we get insects in ethanol, we have the opportunity to critical point dry them, which preserves the soft parts that would normally shrivel when they dry.

8:33am

Bugscope Teamthe fascicle is black, if you see it 'in person,' and it has a siphon tube that both delivers saliva and collects the blood. there are also, as I had mentioned earlier, for cutting mouthparts

Bugscope Teamwhen we critical point dry female mosquitoes, the fascicle is sometimes released from the sheath of the proboscis it is normally inside

Bugscope Teamclearly the fascicle is so named because it is bundled together like sheaves of wheat once were; the same root word as fascists

Bugscope TeamCurious you are the supreme ruler now...

Bugscope Teamit is also a stinkbug, although it does not have that shield shape

8:38am

Bugscope Teamhere we see that one of the antennae has a scale from another insect stuck to it

Bugscope TeamCurious please let us know if you try to call up a particular preset and it does not show up.

GuestSo their antennae point downward?

Bugscope Teamlikely just because it is dead; they can move their antennae pretty much however they wish when they alive

Bugscope Teamthis is a ladybug. if we get too close we'll see that its mouthparts are covered with juju

Bugscope TeamCate also put a larval ladybug on the stub for us.

8:43am

GuestDoes the ladybug have eyes?

Bugscope Teamyes, but they are a little harder to see. they are right next to thee edge of their back shell

Bugscope TeamI'm at the microscope, the SEM, and just drove us over to one of the ladybug eyes

GuestIs there a way to look at the top of the ladybug?

Bugscope Teamhaha No! Sorry...

Bugscope Teamwe have to choose which side we're going to mount up when we make the sample

Bugscope Teamthe individual facets of the compound eye are called ommatidia

Bugscope Teamdragonflies may hold the record for the most ommatidia per eye; they are said to have as many as 32,000 per eye

GuestSo this is one of the eyes?

Bugscope Teamyes this is one of the ladybug's compound eyes; I'll back the mag down for you in a sec so you can see...

GuestWow thanks! We have to get going, but this was super fascinating and we will definitely be back!

Bugscope TeamThank You!

8:49am

Bugscope Teamtenent setae!

Bugscope TeamIf anyone else would like to drive please let us know.

Bugscope Teamwe will likely close down soon if no one else is interested

Bugscope Teamwe are quite happy to have had guests today!

GuestThank you - a wonderful resource. We will be back another time also!

Bugscope TeamSuper Cool!

Guestreally enjoyed it!!!

Bugscope TeamThank You, LK!

GuestI just joined, this is very interesting... We will check it out agin for sure. Thank you.

Bugscope TeamIf you would like to drive please let us know.

Bugscope Teamwe can stay on for a bit longer

Bugscope Teamthis is a cranefly

8:55am

GuestIs that the proboscis on the left of the screen or is it called something else on a cranefly?

Bugscope Teamum but we do need to know if we have an audience. Otherwise it is kind of boring, and Cate will laugh at me.

GuestI am here ... Can we mail bugs from Canada?

Bugscope Teamyes you can! if you collect live bugs into ethanol, like vodka, there's pretty much no chance they'

Bugscope Teamre going to survive and cause in international incident

Guest Sorry don't have any vodka

Bugscope Teamwell some kind of alcohol stronger than beer, or methanol would work -- rubbing alcohol

GuestIs that the proboscis on the left of the screen or is it called something else on a cranefly?

Bugscope Teamyes that is the proboscis; they kind of resemble horses

GuestThanks

Bugscope TeamYou can send insects dry, in portion containers so they don't get smooshed. The postal carriers have rules but sometimes are not aware of them, and it is easy for them to say No

9:00am

Bugscope Teamthis is the compound eye of the cranefly

Bugscope Teamthe ommatidia do not look so good up close

GuestWe will check with our post office.

Bugscope Teamugh I'm sorry -- they have some kind of juju on them as well

GuestHaha

GuestNow we know where they get ideas for horror movies! :>D

Bugscope Teamhaha

Bugscope Teamno perfect ommatidia yet today

GuestWhat is that?

Bugscope Teamit's a mold spore; looks like a Greek amphora at the bottom of the sea

9:06am

GuestThose look like fish fins...or corn husks...what are they?

Bugscope Teamthey're scales

GuestThanks for sharing ... Going for breakfast now... We will come back another day.

Bugscope Teammosquitoes, butterflies, moths, silverfish, and few other insects have scales

GuestIs that the antenna?

Bugscope TeamI think it's a palp -- one of the mouthparts

Bugscope Teamyes it was a palp. this is too

Bugscope Teamplease, if anyone else has questions, feel free to chime in

Bugscope Teamwe're going to shut down soon, for today

GuestWhat does the palp do?

9:11am

Bugscope Teampalps are accessory mouthparts that help manipulate food toward the mouth, although not with most moths; they also have chemosensory components that help the insect taste its prospective meal

Bugscope Teamthis is a ladybug larva

GuestWhat were we just looking at?

Bugscope Teamwhen we were up close we were trying to make sense of an aphid's body that is stuck to the larva

Bugscope Teamaphids are soft-bodied, like dustmites, so when they dry up after they dry they shrivel horribly

Bugscope Teamsame with a spider abdomen

GuestThanks!

Bugscope Teamthe cephalothorax of a spider is hardened

Bugscope Teamalright everyone we're shutting down

Bugscope Teamwe appreciate you being on

GuestSo if we wanted to send a spider...would it be best to send it in ethanol solution?

Bugscope Teamyes, then we could critical point dry it

GuestThanks

Bugscope TeamThank You!

GuestThank you! We will be back!! Off to look up 'how to critical dry' ;>)